Gustavo Dudamel Wins Grammy Award For Mahler’s ‘Symphony No. 8’

Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra won Best Choral Performance for their revelatory Deutsche Grammophon recording of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’, at the 2022 Grammy Awards. This was the third Grammy Award in succession for Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic – they won the Best Orchestral Performance awards in 2020 for Andrew Norman’s Sustain and 2021 for Charles Ives: Complete Symphonies. The ceremony for the 64th Grammy Awards was held yesterday (3 April) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Grammy, which celebrates both artistic and technical achievement, is the recording industry’s most prestigious award.

Mahler’s extraordinary Symphony No. 8

Gustav Mahler’s extraordinary Symphony No. 8 spans a universe of emotions, channeled through everything from passages of intimate reflection to overwhelming outbursts of choral and orchestral sound. Mahler said the finished score was, “something in comparison with which all the rest of my works are no more than introductions”.

Gustavo Dudamel’s vision was realised by 346 performers

Although known since the time of its first performance in 1910 as the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’, because of the great number of performers required, Gustavo Dudamel’s vision of the work was realised by a total of 346 performers. The Los Angeles Philharmonic was joined by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Pacific Chorale, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, National Children’s Chorus and soloists Tamara Wilson, Leah Crocetto, Erin Morley, Mihoko Fujimura, Tamara Mumford, Simon O’Neill, Ryan McKinny and Morris Robinson.

“We are so proud of our artists and partners and delighted that the Recording Academy continues to recognise the outstanding quality of their work,” noted Dr Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsche Grammophon. “Our Grammy Award winners this year reflect the Yellow Label’s commitment to excellence and diversity, from Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s readings of two wonderful rediscovered Florence Price symphonies to the awe-inspiring soundworld of Mahler’s mighty Eighth Symphony.”

Buy or stream Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s album Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 8 here.

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